CAMRA meets with a European Commissioner to discuss its cider campaign

On Tuesday 12th April CAMRA met with Pierre Moscovici, the European Commissioner responsible for taxation across Europe, to discuss proposed changes to the EU Directive on Excise Duty for Alcohol with the hope of securing more support for cider producers in Britain.

The meeting took place in Strasbourg, France with Anneliese Dodds and Clare Moody MEPs. In the meeting, Commissioner Moscovici confirmed that they are in the process of reviewing the Directive, which may include reduced rates for small cider producers. The Commission has decided to specifically investigate the situation regarding small cider producers in order to feed into the consultation process and hopefully influence the outcome.

However, the Commissioner warned that the process for amending the Directive would not happen overnight, and that the UK Government must act in the meantime to comply with the existing Directive. He confirmed that they have halted infringement proceedings to give the UK time to comply with the Directive, and suggested that we explore alternative routes to supporting the cider industry, such as by tapping into Government funding.

CAMRA is now focusing its efforts on the UK Government to ensure that producers are not left vulnerable during this period.